The Making Of DC Rachel Bailey
by Ophelia Havisham
Summary: For HedgieX. Rachel's new at the office, and Andy and Kevin might be taking bets, but Janet has faith in the newbie. Please R&R!
1. Fresh Meat

**Hola mis amigos! Ok, so I'd like to thank HedgieX for prompting me to write this. This chapter's pretty short, but the next one will be a bit longer. If there is a next one. We'll see. Maybe if you review...**

**Don't own, blah blah blah blah... I love Suranne Jones... blah blah blah... blah...**

**Meh.**

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><p>"Newbie at six."<p>

Kevin, who was as bad with the clock direction system as he was with everything else looked from Andy to twelve, and back to Andy. Janet turned her swivelly chair around to six o'clock.

"Fresh meat," said Andy.

"Hiya," said the fresh meat to Jack, who was sat tapping away at his desk, "I'm new in here, Rachel Bailey?"

"They warned me about you." Despite the smile Jack spoke with, the fresh meat looked like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or make a run for it. Jack showed her into Gill's office, where she introduced herself to the beast.

The fresh meat had dark hair which was neatly curled and framing her nervous expression. She wore smart black workpants and a pale peach blouse. She covered it in a chunky white cardigan and black jacket. She held a black leather handbag tightly in front of her with both hands, as though she wasn't sure what to do with either of them.

"How long?" asked Kevin, taking his wallet out of a back pocket. "Twenty quid gives her two months."

"Six," said Andy. "Six months."

"Oh God, here they go again." Andy and Kevin both turned to look at Janet.

"You not takin', Janet?" asked Kevin, sounding pretty surprised.

"No, I'm not. I have faith in this one." Kevin smirked.

"You weren't so faithful with the last one," Andy pointed out.

"Andy, the last one was Georgia McKensie. D'you remember her?"

"She was fit, 'er," Kevin mumbled, before sitting down to fantasise, unsurprisingly oblivious to Janet's mildly disgusted glare.

"Georgia McKensie waltzed in with peroxide blonde hair, a skirt that just about covered the entry points to her body and a shirt cut so low that the nipples of her Pam Anderson-sized tits were almost visible. Not to mention her radioactive orange complexion."

"God, she was gorgeous." Kevin's unwelcome contribution was ignored.

"Anyway, my point is that she was blatantly more cut out for prostitution. Kevin, you're drooling. I have faith in Newbie."

Andy spent a moment looking at Janet like she was speaking a foreign language, before grabbing Kevin's hand and shaking it to seal the bet. Kevin didn't seem to notice. Janet rolled her eyes.

When the fresh meat finally made it out of the labyrinth of conversation she had found herself trapped in with Gill, she entered the office with a slightly more nervous expression.

"Um... I'm Rachel Bailey... I'm new..." her voice trailed off and she wondered whether it had been lost in the noise of the various conversations around her.

"Janet Scott," said a blonde woman extending a hand. Rachel took it with a nervous smile. "So you're new?" Janet turned back to her desk and sat down.  
>"Yeah, I'm..." Rachel was losing words again. Janet patted the seat next to her."Sit down then, and lets get started."<p>

"Oh, ok." Rachel did as instructed and sat down. Janet tossed a file in front of her.

"Anne Lewis, 19. Went missing on Friday night. Body was found on Melbourne Street last night. Police have found no suspects."

"Did she have a boyfriend?"

"At the time of her death, no. However, there was a bloke she'd dated a couple of months back, Cameron Harris."

"You spoken to him?" asked Rachel, still flicking through the file.

"Not yet, but we're trying to get ahold of him. Every time we call the flat, all we get is an answering machine."

"Parents?"

"Have nothing."

"Friends?"

"We've only spoken to one, she knows bugger all."

"Who was the last person to see her alive?"

"Katie Lewis, sister. Still trying to track her down."

"Right, speak to her sister, friends, family, work colleagues - what did she do?"

"Worked in Costa," said Janet, impressed by the authoritative tone the nervous fresh meat had suddenly adopted.

"Right. Uni?"

"Manchester University."

"Ask her teachers. Cause of death?"

"Blunt force trauma. She was also raped before she died."

Rachel slammed the file on the desk. "Well, I think that our best bet is for us to go to Cameron Harris's flat."

"Okay, you head downstairs and I'll meet you there," said Janet. Rachel obediently left, throwing her coat back on.

"Two months? Six months? I give her a good few years yet." Andy and Kevin looked a little shell shocked. "Now, I'm going to go and speak to Cameron Harris with Rachel, and you two better be doing something productive when we get back."

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><p>Rachel was stood leaning against a black vehicle. "Who's driving?" she asked, when she was joined by Janet.<p>

"D'you want to drive?" asked Janet.

"Sure. I live pretty close to this bloke's flat, anyway."

The two women sat in the car while Janet took a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from her bag.

"You don't mind do you?" asked Janet.

"Nah," replied Rachel.

"D'you want one?"

"No, I don't smoke," Rachel declined politely. Not yet, thought Janet, but she didn't say that.

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><p>Outside Cameron's flat, they were greeted by a rather stocky Scotsman who appeared to be the landlord. He informed them that "Mr 'Arris were out at the pub."<p>

Said pub was your average 'cross-the-road gathering, with the cream painted exterior and a chalkboard outside with one blank side. Inside were countles recently unemployed men who were attempting to steer clear of their wives, the retired football-adoring bachelors squinting at the screen of the Tv which was blaring out Match Of The Day and the odd couple of people who were escaping some element or other of their hectic lives.

As for Cameron Harris, he was hunched over a bar stool in an 'S' shape, with a blue hoodie, logo and all, and jeans revealing a thick line of underwear above the top.

Rachel sat at one side of him, Janet at the other. Rachel opened with a tentative "What brings you 'ere?"

"None o' your business, mate," Cameron replied darkly.

"Well actually, pal, I think you'll find that it just might be," said Janet almost threateningly. "We're from the police and we've come to ask you about your connection to a young girl named Anne Lewis."

"Why I'm 'ere, innit? I just 'eard."

"We've come to ask you about your connection to the victim."

"You reckon I did it, don't yah? You fink I killed 'er! I didn't fucking kill her!"

"Mr Harris could you please calm down. What connection did you have with Anne Lewis?" asked Rachel, looking to Janet as though for support.

"I was 'er ex. She dumped me for a little skeeze."

"Who was it?"

"Some Jack sumfink. Jack Thompson or summat, I don't remember much about him."

"Do you know where we'd find him?" Janet quizzed.

"Nope, no idea."

"Right, thanks," said Janet before pausing a moment. "Mr Harris, would you please come down to the station with us?"

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><p>After much coersing and a very public arguement in the middle of a pub, Cameron Harris agreed to answer a few questions in the station. Gill had gone to speak to him briefly while Janet and Rachel stood outside, Janet lighting a cigarette.<p>

"D'you think he did it?" asked Rachel, pulling her coat around her.

"That's like asking if Mark Chapman did it," said Janet.

"I'm not so sure, me," said Rachel. Janet ignored her.

"Still don't smoke?" she asked, holding a cigarette out to the newbie.

"Jesus, please gimme one," said Rachel emphatically, taking a cigarette and lighting it with Janet's lighter. Janet smiled.

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><p><strong>All for now, folks. Will update asap, no promises.<strong>

**For HedgieX. Thanks for prompting me to write it, hon!**


	2. Cameron Harris

**Second very small chapter. For HedgieX. I'm off all week so I'll have more up this week, this is just a small update to keep you going. It barely deserves to be on it's own, to be truthful, but I thought you'd like to see it anyway. Mostly dialogue - I'm lazy today.**

**Fic was taken down to SOPA/PIPA/ACTA scares. However, SOPA & PIPA are pretty dead and ACTA isn't decided on until June, so enjoy.**

**Thanks to all readers, reviewers, etc. Love you all!**

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><p>"What's Gill got from him?" asked Rachel, standing up quickly as Janet left Gill's office.<p>

"Nothing, really. What're you stood up for?" asked Janet. Rachel realised what she was doing and sat down sheepishly. "Anyway, Harris. He says that he was down at the pub on Friday night. We'll need to go down to the pub later and confirm that. The interesting thing is, he claims that she was involved with this Jack Thompson bloke, but she never actually told him that and he never saw them together."

"So he's jumped to conclusions about her and Jack?"

"Yeah, essentially, that's what he's done. Has Andy tried to contact the university?" Janet asked, opening her KitKat and signalling to a grl sat at a computer to put the kettle on.

"Two of her friends have said they'll come down tomorrow afternoon, her sister'll be here tonight and one of her teachers is coming as well, Saturday afternoon."

"Brill. Far as I'm concerned though, he did it," said Janet confidently, spinning a little in her chair and biting into her KitKat.

"What makes you say that?" asked Rachel, frowning.

"Seen it all before. The jealous ex-boyfriend always did it."

"Right," said Rachel unsurely, nodding along. "What was she studying anyway?"

"Some beauty thing or something. Hairdressing, maybe? Don't remember."

"I'm not so sure it was Cameron. He seemed to really love her."

"No he didn't, he just wanted to get in her pants. You don't actually think he could possibly be innocent, do you?"

"I don't know. Anyway, ask all her friends about Jack Thompson. I've gotta be honest, I'm a bit suspcious of him."

"Are you?"

"Yeah, I am. I mean, her friend we spoke to knows nothing, her parents knew nothing, nobody's mentioned him. Why would she hide him from her friends?"

"I thought we established that Harris was jumping to conclusions?" quizzed Janet.

"Yeah, but for him to jump to conclusions, she must have been hanging around with him a lot, and when we asked her friends who she hung around with, they didn't mention him."

"Fair point," said Janet. Newbie's good, she thought to herself. She pulled another KitKat from the pack. "Can you catch?" she asked. Newbie nodded and Janet through the KitKat across the room. "Good Newbie," Janet muttered to herself. Andy and Kevin would regret taking bets.

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><p><strong>You know my review policy - do it!<strong>


	3. The Flat

**Another chapter, once more dedicated to HedgieX, who finally got me to write the plot that had been sitting in my head for quite some time. Thank you, honey!**

**And to the rest of you, enjoy, and remember my review policy - do it.**

**Don't own, don't sue. **

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><p>Rachel timidly stumbled out of Gill's office. It was Kevin's idea - he suggested that Janet should make her go in to Godzilla's office to get info from this afternoon's questionings.<p>

"How was she?" asked Kevin, who was doing his best impression of a cocky git in Janet's opinion.

"Nothing," said Rachel shyly. "Her friends knew absolutely nothing." She slammed a file on the desk and threw herself in a chair.

"Bugger," said Kevin, smirking. Janet glared at him

"Not a single one of them has mentioned Jack Thompson. They'd never heard of him." The confidence was slowly coming back to Rachel's voice.

"So we've got no information at all?" asked Janet. "And has anybody tried looking him up?"

"There's a tonne of 'em. Gill says she's got somebody tracing him up."

"Right, thanks," said Janet. Seeing that Rachel was shaken up, she leaned over and hit Kevin on the back of the head. "Make her a brew, would you?" Kevin skulked off like a disgruntled teenager.

"Me and Janet are gonna go out and have a cigarette while you do that," said Rachel. Janet smiled at her new partner, who was slowly showing shades of Janet when she started at the offices.

"No you're not," said Gill, running out of her office. "You're going down to Anne Lewis's flat. Jack Thompson, 28, drug dealer. Autopsy results just came through, Anne Lewis had taken drugs about 6 hours before she died."

"We'll pick up something from Costa on the way," sighed Rachel, pulling her coat from the coathook and pulling it around her.

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><p>"What're you doing here?" asked a young girl with a Scottish accent. The young girl in question was around 19 years old, with black hair tied in a pony tail. She wore a grey cardiagan which was covered in paint stains and jeans that had seen better days in the 1990s.<p>

"We're enquiring about Anne Lewis, she used to live in one of these flats. Do you know anything about her?" asked Janet.

"Are you the police?" the girl responded.

"Yes, we are," said Rachel confidently.

"I'll get my dad. He's the landlord. He might be able to tell you something." The girl started to lead them down the hall. "We're decorating one of the flats at the moment. My name's Jessica, by the way. Jessica Burns."

"Thanks," said Janet.

"This is my dad," said Jessica. Her dad was a man on a ladder in a room half painted a colour that reminded Rachel of cat vomit.

"Who's this, Jessica?" Mr Burns asked sternly.

"The police, dad," said Jessica.

"We've come to ask you about one of your tenants, Anne Lewis? I'm Rachel Bailey, by the way, and this is Janet Scott." Mr Burns' expression immediately changed. "I was expecting this," he said solemnly as he came down the ladder. "Jessica, put the kettle on. Do you want a brew?"

"No thanks," Janet declined politely, but Rachel was 'dying for a coffee'. Mr Burns showed them into a room with nothing more than a corner sofa, the leather of which had been scrapped to pieces by an animal (cat?) and a few photo frames.

"I didn't speak much with Anne," he told them. "She wasn't a very sociable seeming girl. She didn't have people around a lot."

"Really?" asked Rachel, sipping on a hot coffee.

"No. Except, there was this one lad. He used to come every Tuesday at 3 o'clock, and yet he hasn't been this week."

Rachel and Janet exchanged glances. "Could you give us a description of him, Mr Burns?" Janet asked.

"No, sorry. I could never really see his face. He always wore some kind of hoodie to hide it. I don't know what that was about."

"Thank you for your time Mr Burns, but we really have to be going," said Janet, prising the coffee out of Rachel's hands. A mildly disappointed Rachel followed Janet, who was politely saying goodbye to Mr Burns, but ultimately trying ot leave quickly.

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><p>"What do you think?" asked Janet. Was that Jack Thompson? The guy that kept coming there."<p>

"I think so. We'll tell Gill, she can get somebody to follow it up," said Rachel. "Whoever it is, though, they're definitely a suspect. I mean, he goes there every week, but the week she dies, he stops going?"

"But what if he heard that she died through the grapevine? You know, what if one of her friends told him?"

"None of her friends knew him."

"Supposing it's not Thompson that keeps showing up there?"

"Who else is it?" Rachel challenged. After a minute or two of silent thought, she turned to Janet. "You're not bloody well sending me in to talk to her again though."

"I'll do it," said Janet with a smile.

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><p><strong>I won't bore you with my review policy. Just to let you know though, I love reviews. *pleady eyes*<strong>


	4. Questioning Jack Thompson

**I'm back with more.**

**Once again, this is dedicated to HedgieX. Anyway, have fun and REVIEW!**

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><p>Gill was brilliant. Scary, yes. Brilliant? Oh yes.<p>

She had only managed to track down and arrest one of the most difficult to find drug dealers in Manchester. Rachel only wished it wasn't her that had to question him.

Strictly speaking, she didn't _have _to question him at all. There was no reason for her specifically to question him. But Gill thought it was a good idea, so she was going to have to go into a room with a drug dealer she had never met before who was arrested on suspicion of murder, someone who was apparently her colleague whom she had also never met before, and she was going to have to question a subject. Janet-lessly.

She entered the room, shaking like a leaf, trying not to bite her nails and looking across the room at one of the most vicious looking people she had ever met. He had a shaved head, a silver earring and tattoos up his neck that probably meant something in some ancient dialect of Moron. Mentally telling herself to pull it together and not act like she was terrified of everything, she decided on her starting point.

"Where were you on Friday night?" she said. Jack Thompson looked at her blankly.

"I dunno. Gimme times."

"Around 2:30, Saturday morning. Where were you?"

"I dunno. In a bar, prob'ly," he said, shrugging.

"Mr Thompson, you're gonna have to be a bit more specific. Could you tell us which bar?"

"No, I couldn't, alright?"

"Mr Thompson, this is a murder enquiry. Let's try this: what was your relationship with Anne Lewis?"

"We was good mates," he said.

"Why haven't you visited her flat this week?" asked Rachel, slowly growing more confident.

"Because I knew she was dead. No point trying speak to a dead girl." Rachel was unimpressed with Jack's attitude, but unsurprised.

"How did you know she was dead?" Rachel asked.

"Are you kidding me? You fink I dunnit cos I knew she was dead? People 'eard it on the news know she's dead, you don't fink they've dunnit, do yah?" Rachel was uncomfortable and slightly scared by the way he stood up and leaned over the desk yelling at her.

"Mr Thompson, could you please tell us how you found out she was dead," said Rachel calmly. Jack Thompson remained silent for several minutes, looking down at the desk in front of him.

"Did Anne Lewis ever pay you for anything, Mr Thompson?"

"No," he said, glaring up at her.

"Never bought any drugs from you or anything?"

"Look, I used to sell 'er coke, alright?"

"Used to? Until what point? Until she stopped being able to pay?"

"Look, I didn't fucking kill her!"

"Then tell us how you knew she was dead!"

"I heard it from one of her mates!"

"That's weird, because her mates never mentioned you. Never heard of you."

"Well then they're liars." Jack remained quiet for several minutes once again, Rachel glaring at him for the whole time. "Look," he continued meekly, "I'll tell you the truth. I killed her. She hadn't paid up for months and she owed me loads. I followed her into that back street and I raped her. I wasn't gonna kill her, I was only gonna teach 'er a lesson. Then she said she was gonna report me to the police. I didn't know what to do. I hit her and then I ran off. I didn't know she were dead. I were just scared."

"Thank you Mr Thompson." Rachel was taken out of the room immediately and breathed a sigh of relief. The second she was back in the office, Janet looked up at her and tried to congratulate her, but was greeted with "Cigarettes. Coffee. Now."

"Kevin, you put the kettle on, make Rachel a brew. Me and Rachel are gonna go and have a cigarette and a chat, and we want there to be two hot drinks on the desk when we come back." Kevin didn't dare argue and ran off to put the kettle on.

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><p>"Gill was impressed," said Janet. Rachel said nothing and smoked. "D'you fancy a drink tonight? You, me, Gill, the lads?"<p>

"I don't drink," said Rachel.

"Coke, then," said Janet. "Come on, Rachel, treat yourself."

Janet looked at Rachel for a moment, trying to convince her with a stare. "Fine, I will," said Rachel, with a feigned reluctance and a friendly smile. Janet smiled back and lifted the cigarette to her lips. In 6 hours, thought Janet, she won't be saying that she doesn't drink.

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><p><strong>Please review if you would like to see what happens on this night out. It will be a night out to remember. <strong>


	5. The Night Out

**Don't own, blah blah.**

**Once more, thank you to HedgieX, my loyal and loving reviewer. This is for you.**

**Fun little chapter to write, with credit to my auntie for the pizza anecdote, which actually inspired this whole chapter. Yeah, you wanna know what I'm talking about. Also, thanks to me for getting bored and having fun generally writing this fic. Yeah, you're surprised now. I bet you've never seen a fanfic writer thank themselves. Now you have.**

**Yeah. That's it. Go with it.**

**I'm not drunk. Well, not as drunk as Rachel in this chapter. Seriously, I'm not at all drunk. Promise!**

**For the record, I am NOT a Beyonce fan. I just thought that it would be comical, something you will definitely understand a little further into the chapter.**

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><p>The second she entered, Janet could smell a faint scent of fake tan, hear someone singing along to Beyonce quite loudy and eventually, when Rachel came downstairs, saw the nervous fresh meat dressed in a little black dressed which was elegant, though a little too so for just drinks, thought Janet, fake tan which was very tastefully done, not tacky or orange, and eye make up which was just subtle enough, like the fake tan, to be close enough to natural.<p>

"You ready to go?" said Rachel.

"Yep, ready when you are," said Janet.

"Bloody hell, I am _ready_, " said Rachel.

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><p>"I thought you said you didn't drink?" said Janet, leaning back to avoid the glass that was being slammed on the bar.<p>

"So did I," said a tipsy Rachel. Maybe tipsy wasn't quite covering it. Maybe completely and thoroughly hammered got close.

It only started out as a coke. Then another coke. Then another coke. Then a rum and coke. Then another rum and coke. Then something weird and blue, followed by the last of Kevin's drink and suddenly Rachel was utterly inebriated. Usually Gill would have wondered where the hell Kevin had got to before concluding that he probably had his tongue down some stripper's throat, but tonight was not one of those nights.

"Janet," said Rachel, her head throwing itself in all directions before finally looking at a very startled Janet, "I dare you to go and chat up that bloke over there. The one sat there with that other feller. Go on, do it."

"I don't think it's me that he's interested in, Rache," said Janet, half laughing, half concerned. Well, more like a very small sliver of concern. Primarily laughter.

"Well, if you aren't gonna then I might have to," said Rachel, strutting confidently over to where the young man was sitting, watching her come over and-

"Oops."

"Are you sure we should have let her go over there, Jan?"

"I don't think we had much of a choice," said Janet. Both women were now watching in amusement as Rachel kissed the stunned man, with her hands grabbing his face, now sitting in his lap. Oh, crap, he was about to try and feed her.

"Andy, can you please go and get her? Andy? Oh, Jesus, where's Andy gone?"

"Don't ask," said Gill. Janet was making her way over to Rachel and her victim and grabbed Rachel's arm, trying to pull her away.

"This is ours, fellas," said Janet. "Rachel, don't eat that, you're a vegetarian. That's a meat feast pizza."

Rachel rolled her eyes and mumbled something quiet and harrassed under her breath. Then she picked off some of the pepperoni, leaving the slice covered in chicken, bacon and something that looked like it had been run over. "Now it's not," Rachel argued, taking a massive bite. She instantly spat it out and ran to the pub toilets. "Yeah, it is," she admitted sheepishly when she finally came back out.

"Can I have your attention please?" At this point, there was a man on the stage trying to get the attention of everyone in the pub. "Anyone who wants to take part in the kareoke can do so now by putting their name down on this list currently held by Kathy." Kathy waved said list in the air.

"I'm having a go at this," said Rachel, heading for the stage. Janet, who looked horrified, was about to pull her back, but she found herself held back by Gill.

"No," said Gill. "Let her go." Janet choked at the scent of Gill's breath.

"Oh my god, you are hammered," she said to Gill.

"Of course I'm not Janet," Gill slurred. "Don't be ridiculous." She then paused. "Well," she giggled, "don't tell anyone but, I am a little bit."

"Gill, everyone can smell on your breath that you - oh, shit, no, she's doing the dance."

"That is something," said Andy from behind her, "but that is not _the dance_."

"Where the hell were you? And - oh, bloody hell, you're drunk and all, aren't you?"

"Janet, everyone's drunk apart from you," said Kevin, before being distracted. "Kitty, wait for me!" he called to a tall, big boobed blonde with a very dangerous look on her face. Janet rolled her eyes and leaned over the bar. "Get me hammered," she said to the barmaid, who obediently handed her something which was disgusting, but started to work after one sip.

"Shit, that's horrible," said Janet. "Gimme another."

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><p>"And another thing," said Janet,"Why did the chicken even cross the road? Does anybody know?"<p>

"Come on, Jan," said Andy, "let's get you home. You're making Newbie look sober."

"Maybe she is. Maybe I am. Maybe you're drunk, so you think I'm drunk, so you crash the night by being all drunk and-"

"Janet! Call a taxi, Andy," said Gill."

I can drive!" Janet insisted.

"And if she can't I can," Rachel interrupted.

"Thanks, Rache," said Janet. "You're a good pal." She then put an arm around Rachel's shoulder clumsily and Rachel pulled her in for a drunken hug. And then suddenly she had her tongue in Janet's mouth. Andy and Gill leaned against the bar grinning, taking a while before one of them said "Let's get a taxi."

When they had finally piled the two drunken women into taxis, Gill looked at Andy and said "If they ask tomorrow, do we know what happened?"

"Do we heck!" said Andy. "Kevin's gonna love this."

"Oh yeah," said Gill.

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><p><strong>Review please! By the way, this isn't the start of a whole JanetRachel tangeant, just a mildly humourous ficcy thing. Although I sure do ship that...**


	6. And The Morning After

**New update! Dedicated once more to HedgieX, and just some rambly stuff.**

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><p>"Take this." Rachel looked up and saw Kevin standing over her and putting two paracetemol and a coffee on the desk in front of her. "You better not be hungover all day. Gill wants you."<p>

"Oh, shit," Rachel cursed to herself, downing the paracetemol with a grimace and a swig of coffee. "Thanks, by the way," she said, looking up at Kevin, "for the stuff and the-" she awkwardly attempted to continue but she was too hungover to think. "Did I make a complete prat of myself last night?"

"I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask Gill."

"Shit! Gill was there?"

"Yeah, she was," said Kevin.

"Oh God, no! I was plastered!"

"She mentioned that."

"She did what?"

"Kevin!" Gill snapped, poking her head around the door. "You said you weren't gonna tell 'em!"

"Tell me what?" asked Rachel, who's suddenly alertness arose to her face. "Tell me what? What weren't you gonna tell me?"

"Come on, Rachel," said Gill, giggling slightly and beckoning Rachel in. Kevin observed Rachel's panicked face and smugly collapsed comfortably into a chair. It was then that Janet rushed through the door.

"What've I missed?" Kevin nodded over to Gill's office and Janet immediately understood. She threw her coat over a chair and rushed to the door of Gill's office.

"You're late, Scotty!" Kevin unhelpfully teased. Janet rolled her eyes at Kevin, who twirled around in his chair and started chatting to Andy.

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><p>"You're late, Scotty," Gill echoed.<p>

"Sorry, Gill," said Janet, who sounded more harrassed than apologetic. She sat next to Rachel, who was rubbing her head in an attempt to sooth the hangover that Janet empathised with entirely.

"I'll quiz you later," said Gill. "Now then, Rache, about Jack Thompson."

"What about him? We got the confession," said Rachel in a deadpan tone.

"I'm aware of that. We solved the case in a week and a half. You did well," Gill congratulated her.

"Thanks," said Rachel.

"You got lucky," said Gill soberly. "We've got another one for our - _dynamic_ duo." She paused on the word dynamc and sniggered. She sniggered and placed a thick folder on the desk between Janet & Rachel.

"Go in there and have a look at that. Get some ideas ready for the meeting at eleven. You've got-" Gill checked her watch, "half an hour ." Rachel looked at Janet with a worried and mildly outraged expression. janet shrugged and turned out of the door with the folder in her hand.

"Gill?" said Rachel, just before leaving.

"Yes?"

"What happened last night?" Gill laughed and, once again confused, Rachel sat down with Janet.

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><p>"Right," said Rachel, "What've we got?"<p>

"Male, 40-"

"Lucky," Rachel scowled.

"Think yourself lucky, that's more than I ever got."

"I'll show her who's lucky. Hit me, Jan."

"Male, 40, name's Alan McColl. He's got a wife and a daugter. He's an English teacher at St Steven's. We think that the last person to see him alive is his wife, but we haven't been able to speak to her properly for now."

"How old is the daughter?" asked Rachel.

"She's two. The school want to have a word with some of his colleagues, but they've not got around to it. The school's supposed to be a bit rough, but they don't think that the pupils have anything to do with it. There is a separate case at that school from not long ago, two weeks, I think. Some girl went missing, she's called Ella something, but they reckon that's completely unrelated," said Janet.

"Right, OK," said Rachel. "I'll ask Gill for some info on her, 'cause I'm not entirely convinced." Rachel turned around to Kevin and tapped him on the shoulder. "Make us a brew, would you?" she smiled at him and he rolled his eyes and hit out at the kettle.

"Finally worked out why we keep him around?" said Janet, flicking through the file.

"Yep," replied Rachel, grinning.

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><p><strong>Please review! I'll update as soon as poss.<strong>


	7. Cats And More

**Please review? Reviews make me so happy? *puppy eyes***

**I really wish Kevin was my little brother. Anybody else?**

**Once more, for HedgieX ;D**

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><p>Rachel slung her coat over the back of a chair and nodded to Kevin, who now recognised this nod as a signal to put the kettle on and brew. Rachel was impressed by the fact that he never argued with this. Rachel twirled on a chair and glanced over at Janet, who was peering over her glasses to read a text on her phone.<p>

"Who's texting you?" asked Rachel. Without looking up, Janet replied "Just Aide." She carried on texting for a couple of minutes before removing her glasses, putting her phone in her coat pocket and turning to explain herself to Rachel.

"It's Taisie's birthday in a couple of weeks and we don't know what to get her," Janet explained.

"Has she asked for anything specific?" asked Rachel.

"She wants a cat," said Janet. "Aide thinks it's a great idea, but I'm not so sure?"

"Why not?" asked Rachel, sitting upright.

"Well, because. I just know that for the first week, she'd love it and cuddle it and pet it and feed it and change the litter tray, but then she'd get bored of it and I'd end up looking after it," said Janet.

"Has she ever had a pet before?"

"God no, I can't stand pets."

"Aw, let her have a cat, Jan!" said Rachel enthusiastically. "Every kid should have a pet at least once."

"D'you think?"

"Yeah, I do. I remember my first pet," Rachel reminisced. "A cat, a lovely little ginger thing. Well, it wasn't that little. My dad kept feeding it. He was never really sure what to do with a cat. He hated cats, but I loved the ginger thing. Didn't have a name, just 'The Ginger Thing'. She used to love chasing strings. Only, sometimes she confused strings with wires. Poor little bugger, if only we'd have noticed her played with my hairdryer. While I was drying my hair."

Janet wasn't really sure where to go from here. "Did your dad end up looking after this cat, by any chance?"

"Not as much as you'd think," said Rachel. "Aw, please let Taisie have a cat, Janet! Please, please, please? I'll never ask you for anything else ever again!"

Janet rolled her eyes and stood up to leave, hitting her friend lightly across the back of the head on her way out of the room. "Come on, you," said Janet. "We've got a meeting."

* * *

><p>"Still no leads on the Alan McColl case, ladies?" Gill glanced over at Janet and Rachel, who looked up alertly when they realised Gill was talking to them.<p>

"No," Janet began, "but we're hoping to go and see the widow this afternoon. We want to question a couple of the teachers at the school-"

"Right, well suggest you try that this afternoon instead," Gill interrupted bluntly. "Nobody can get anything out of that bloody woman."

Kevin muttered something to Mitch wryly, and Mitch attempted not to laugh, with much difficultly. "Her husband has just died, Gill," Rachel pointed out tentatively.

"Has he now? I wondered why I was standing here snapping at you lot!" Once more, Kevin whispered something in Mitch's ear and they tried to hide laughter in pathetic unison, until Gill shot them The Look.

Kevin often forgot The Look. It was The Look that Gill gave him when she was annoyed. It was The Look that nobody but Kevin forgot Gill was capable of, the one that made Kevin want to run like a small child from the monster in their wardrobe.

Kevin shut up.

"What about this Ella girl?" said Rachel, after a couple of minutes silence. Kevin gave her a very grateful look and she smiled in acknowledgement.

"What about her?" said Gill sharply. "She's got nothing to do with it."

"Well, shouldn't we be looking into it anyway. She's been missing two months, and then a teacher at the school is found dead? What's this girl's mother got to say about her daughter's disappearance?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" said Gill. "Mitch, you're going to talk to the widow today, and take Kevin with you. I can't keep babysitting him. Rachel, since you're so keen on the Ella Myles case, you can go down and speak to her mother. Janet, you're going with her. Andy and I going down to the school to speak to the head."

* * *

><p>Janet surveyed the row of scruffy looking houses and glanced up at number six. The window was thick with dust, and the remnants of webs clung to the sill where spiders had left them because they couldn't bear the neighbourhood anymore. The door was rusty and has splits it the untidily varnished wood. Janet and Rachel exchanged glances, the kind of "I dare you to go first," glances. Rachel nodded and nervously handled the knocker. After a couple of attempts, a woman in a filthy cream dressing gown and tatty slippers came to the door, with a face like thunder glaring out from under greasy, lank hair.<p>

"Mrs Myles, I believe?" Janet began.

"Miss," the woman corrected, taking the cigarette from between her teeth.

"Miss Myles, I'm DC Janet Scott and this is DC Rachel Bailey. We're here to ask you a couple of questions about your daughter, Ella." Miss Myles skulked back through the hall of her home, leaving the door open. Janet signalled for Rachel to go in first, and Janet followed after, closing the door behind her.

The Myles' house was a mess. The instant scent of mould, damp and cigarettes was overwhelming, and the couch cushions were covered in coffee stains, cigarette ash, unopened letters and various pornographic magazines.

"Clear yourselves a space," said Miss Myles. "Move Howard's magazines or something."

Rachel did so, sitting nervously next to Janet, inching closer to her friend as though for comfort. "What d'you want then?" Miss Myles asked impatiently.

"We wanted to ask you about Ella. Before she disappeared, did you notice anything suspicious?" asked Janet.

"She was pregnant," said Miss Myles. "I think it was that boyfriend of hers, Damien something or Darren or whatever. The silly cow got herself pregnant, but I don't know anymore than that."

"Are you sure that it was Damien's?" asked Rachel.

"Well, who else's could it ha' been?"

"Was Ella usually the type of girl who got herself into a lot of trouble?"

"I don't know, do I?" snapped Miss Myles.

"What about her school reports? Parents night? Did Ella get a lot of detentions at school? What were her grades like?"

"Bloody hell, how'm I meant to know that? I never read her school reports. Parents night is a waste of time. I can't stand the teachers at that school."

* * *

><p>"So," said Janet, pulling the car door shut and rooting around for her keys, "that was helpful."<p>

"We're looking for a pregnant teenager with a boyfriend called Damien or Darren or something," said Rachel. "Andy and Gill were going up to the school, I hope they'll have mentioned something about Ella to her teachers. Other than that, I don't see what we can do. Do you think it's got anything to do with Alan McColl?"

"Goodness knows," said Janet, finding her keys.

Rachel sat in silence for a moment before turning to Janet. "Jan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever find out what happened the other night? Whatever it was that Kevin wouldn't tell us?"

A very guilty look came over Janet's face. "No," she lied, shaking her head rapidly. Rachel raised an eyebrow, but Janet kept her eyes away from Rachel's questioning stare.

Another day, maybe.


	8. Socks

**Another chapter dedicated to HedgieX, whose reviews fill a crack in my heart each time I receive one.**

**Do not own Scott & Bailey, much as I would like to.**

* * *

><p>"Have you made a decision on the cat yet?"<p>

"Hi." Rachel smiled and threw her coat over the back of her chair. She nodded to Kevin, who understood the sign and went to put the kettle on. Janet smiled to herself at how well Rachel had fit in with daily life in MIT.

"Hiya," Rachel said, before adding "Cat?"

Janet rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"As in, yes to the cat?"

"As in 'yes to the cat', yes." Rachel punched the air victoriously and sat in her seat, reaching for a piece of victory KitKat. Janet smacked her hand away.

"No," she said. "Bad Rachel." The two exchanged humoured grins and Janet split the KitKat, offering a piece to the colleague that she was almost starting to consider a friend. "I want you to come over on Thursday though," said Janet, "for Taisie's birthday. I want you to be there when we give her the fluffy little bugger."

"Aw, is it a fluffy one?" Rachel said with a smile.

"No, I thought I'd get her one of those hairless ones." Rachel didn't have time to appreciate the sarcasm before Gill whacked her on the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"Oi, you two, whatever happened to Alan McColl?"

Well last time I checked, he wasn't going anywhere so there's no rush," Rachel joked. Gill raised an eyebrow at Janet.

"She's getting cocky. Don't make me do to her what I did to Kevin." Then she turned back to Rachel and said "Don't think I trained him to do what he does without some _pretty_ brutal measures. McColl, now."

Gill walked away and Rachel followed her with her eyes, before snapping back to Janet and opening her mouth to ask a question.

"You don't want to know," Janet quipped. Rachel missed the joking tone in her voice and looked back to where Gill (or 'Godzilla', as Rachel had taken to calling her) had stood moments ago. "Anyway, Alan McColl. We've got nothing."

"Was it one of the teachers? At the school?"

"What, d'you mean Mrs White in the school library with the PE rope type thing?"

"Maybe." Kevin placed a cup of coffee on the desk next to Rachel.

"Thanks, Kev," she said, patting his face in a joking, though mildly condescending way.

"You wanna watch her, Scotty," Kevin warned. "Don't want Gill to do to her what she did to me."

Janet concealed a smirk between her lips. Rachel once more displayed her 'anxious' face and Janet tried to move forward with the McColl case.

"What about Ella what's-her-face?" she began.

"What about Ella what's-her-face?"

"Ella thingie!"

"What about Ella thingie?"

"It was your bloody theory!"

"What if Ella's disappearance has something to do with McColl."

"How d'you mean?" asked Janet.

"Well, according to the school, Ella is a consistently high achiever."

"Ok."

"And according to her mother, she was pregnant by some lad who's apparently quite rough, yeah?"

"Where's this going?"

"Does that add up? This girl with consistently brilliant grades, described as (and I quote) 'exceptionally clever', starts going out with some rough lad and has sex with him?"

"How would that be connected to McColl?"

"I've no idea," Rachel confessed, "but it puts a new light on the Ella Myles case."

Janet shrugged. "I guess so," she said passively. "I suppose when you put it like that - but how would it have anything to do with Alan McColl?"

"Like I said, I've no idea. So," Rachel continued, changing the subject, "Thursday. Taisie's birthday. What's happening?"

"I think we'll just go straight from work, you can come home with me, I'll give you a lift. Don't bother getting her anything, I'll say you coersed me into getting this bloody kitten. That'll do."

* * *

><p>As promised, Janet gave Rachel a lift straight from work. The cat had been hidden at Janet's mum's house, so they stopped there to pick it up on the way.<p>

The kitten was the sweetest creature, with a thoroughly vacuous expression on it's tiny face. It's fur was dark brown, interspersed with speckles of a lighter brown. It looked out of the cat box at Rachel, who put on a high pitched cat voice for the kitten, mewing at it occasionally. It's only response was to mew back gormlessly.

"If that is all that cat's gonna do, it's gonna drive me and Aide up the wall," Janet complained. Rachel smiled and continued making faces and cat noises at the kitten.

"Does it have a name?"

"I was thinking I'd let Taisie name him."

"Fair enough. Will there be alcohol?"

"I thought you didn't drink?"

"I told you, I didn't. Now, will there be alcohol for the grown ups?"

Janet sighed. "Yes, after the girls are in bed, there will be alcohol for the grown ups, though I doubt you qualify as a grown up. Rachel, are you even listening to me or are you still coddling that bloody cat?"

Rachel was indeed 'coddling that bloody cat'.

* * *

><p>"<em>Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Taisie! Happy birthday to you!" <em>

Newly twelve Taisie blew out the candles and Aide nodded to Janet, who brought out the navy blue cat box while Aide cut the cake.

"We did get you another birthday present," Aide explained, "but we thought we'd wait until now to give it to you."

"Him," Janet corrected, presenting Taisie with the cat box. "We thought we'd wait to give _him _to you." The twelve year old's face lit up with delight. The cat simply mewed and Rachel fought the urge to make another silly face of adoration at the cat.

"I think Rachel was quite taken with him," said Janet, as Taisie stroked the cat fondly.

"What's his name?" asked Taisie.

"We thought we'd ask you," said Aide.

Taisie looked thoughtfully at the cat, studying the vacant expression, slightly speckled underbelly and white paws and said "Socks. His name is Socks, because he looks like he has socks on."

* * *

><p><strong>Unfortunately this marks the start of a temporary hiatus for this fic due to another S&amp;B fic I'm working on, in which Janet moonlights as a crime writer and bases her books on the MIT people *plugs*. So read it, pretty please. <strong>


	9. So Helpful

**Chapter 8? 9? Geez, I've no idea, but if you have any idea, I'll be just here drinking coffee and choking on my own vomit. **

**It's been a great day. **

**Enjoy, and please review. Sorry for the wait, and, I notice, my error. I said in chapter six that Alan MacColl was divorced, but in the next chapter I kept referring to her as 'the widow', so I'm sorry for the blunder. For the record, he's divorced.**

* * *

><p>Janet continued staring blankly into thin air and Rachel passively flicked through a dog-eared <em>Glamour<em>. Kevin didn't even bother to hide his copy of _Nuts_ magazine and nobody else was in work. Yet.

"What's the score?" asked Janet. Rachel looked round to see who she was talking to when Gill walked in the door, quick with her response.

"Well, on MacColl, the school said pretty much nothing. He wasn't popular with the kids, nor was he unpopular. Taught English, had an ex wife who they directed us to, and that was all they had to give us," said Gill. "Ella Myles was apparently top of her class in most subjects, one of the brightest kids in the school, they said. Couldn't fault her, she was never any trouble. Guess we'll have to dig a bit deeper. She had two close friends, they're coming to the station tomorrow for questioning but whether or not they know anything we can't say. We want somebody to revisit Ella's mum, I don't suppose you two would do it?"

"Sure," said Janet, rolling her eyes. Gill threw her coat over the door and went into her office.

"How did you do that?" asked Rachel in awe.

"Do what?" asked Janet.

"It's like you sensed she was coming!"

"I did. You'll learn to one day. Most of us do. Mitch can do it. Andy can do it. I can do it. In fact, Kevin's the only one who can't do it and... well, it's Kevin. Enough said."

Rachel nodded and picked up a KitKat. "I suppose we'd better go and see Mrs MacColl, then," said Janet.

"Let me finish this first," Rachel answered. She finished the first finger and left the other one on Kevin's desk. "You can have that if you promise to be good," she told Kevin.

"Aw, thanks Mum," said Kevin. Rachel left, carkeys in hand,and Janet followed, stopped briefly by Kevin. "I wonder where she gets that attitude from, Scotty."

"She learns from the best," said Janet with a wink.

* * *

><p>"So you understand, Miss Myles, that it's puzzling to us why such a clever girl who's never in any trouble is now pregnant and running away with her boyfriend," Janet said as calmly as she could, though this woman's attitude was really starting to annoy her.<p>

"I don't know what you expect me to do," Miss Myles shrugged. "If I knew something, I'd tell you."

"Angela - can I call you Angela?" Rachel began, receiving a nod from Angela Myles, "Angela, was Ella happy at home?"

"I don't know, you never can tell with teenagers." Angela stunned out a cigarette and instantly lit another.

* * *

><p>"Oh my god!" The two of them sat in the car, Janet leaning her head on the steering wheel. "I swear, she is so exasperating. How can someone just not care like she does?"<p>

"I'm telling you, Janet, I'm not surprised this poor girl ran away." Rachel reached for her cigarettes and offered Janet one, which was declined, before lighting one herself. "And I don't know what brand of cigarettes she smokes, but they smell vile." Janet smiled in agreement, thought the two of them knew no more than when they came.

**Yes, I am this lazy. I'll make a better update soon, I'm off after next week. **


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